259,600 HKD
“Carillon Minute Repeater” H(enri) Barbezat-Bôle, Le Locle, No. 3684, movement by Constant Piguet, Le Sentier, Swiss patent No. 11948. Made circa 1920. Fine and very rare, 18K gold, keyless hunting-cased pocket watch with carillon minute-repeating with four hammers on four gongs. Four-body, “demi-bassine”, polished. Hinged gold cuvette. White enamel with Breguet numerals, outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel “Breguet” hands. Notes Carillon minute repeating watches are very rare; only a few are known with four hammers or Westminster chimes. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute-repeat with carillon, under the No. 11948 .The makers that specialized in this type of watch were Constant Piguet, Eduard JeanRichard, and Victorin Piguet. The known tunes played by four hammer carillons are: Westminster chimes, the Swiss National anthem, and God Save the King. A watch playing God Save the King was sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, on November 11, 2006, lot 53. Similar watches were sold by Antiquorum, Exceptional Horological Works of Art, Geneva, October 19, 2002, lot 8; and Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches and Clocks, Hong Kong, July 10, 2005, lot 83; Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches and Clocks, Geneva, May 14, 2006, lot 783 and October 15, 2006, lot 404. Constant Piguet In 1896 Constant Piguet is listed as being a gong maker in Le Sentier in the canton of Vaud, making carillon repeating watches with fou
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-06-02
